How many of you have Aspergers?

WildRice

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My middle son (10) definately has Asperger's syndrome. (Aspy). For those of you that dont know what this is, it is a mild form of Autism. Some characteristics include not maintaing eye contact, poor social skills ie interacting with others, appear to be in their own world alot, and an interest in detail, almost to obsession. In looking over my life, it seems that I too am an aspy but was never diagnosed. I have MANY coping skills that I have learned. One strong commonality with Aspys (esp males) is interest in electronics.

I was wondering if there were others out there in this community that are famailiar with AS (asperger's syndrome) or have been diagnosed with AS.

There was a show on NPR's dianne Reahm (sp?) show on october 2. you can find the archive somewhere arounf NPR.org. The title of this guys book is "Look Me In the Eye" IIRC.

I may add more information later on living with AS as it pertains to my hobbies and life.

Jeff
 

Carpenter

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My son (9) has a very mild form of Aspergers as well as Sensory Integration Disorder. I too probably have/had it when growing up.

My daughter (5) has been around around my son her whole life (of course) and this year when she started K-5, she latched onto a boy immediately, we found out later that week that he also has a more severe case of Aspergers.

We figure she sensed it in him. Her classmate seems to actually be more social since school began. The other night, her fclassmate actually talked to her on the phone. That was the first time he actually talked on the phone. Until that point, he wouldn't even talk to his mother over the phone. His mother is very greatful and keep asking my wife and I for advice.

We found out when our son was diagnosed at 4, that talking to people that have already experienced what you are going through it a very good thing. Like most things in life, people that have already been where you are going are great resources and make the journey a little less stressful.
 

WildRice

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I have found the intense interest in something, like working on a project in a workroom, or completly immersing one-self into a computer can be a coping device.

alot of times social cues are not even noticed and leave the aspy confused and even hurt by the responces of the NT's (neuro-typicals) after a while solidarity is perferred because ones self cannot be misunderstood by a mechanical object.

There are many people in history that can fall into the AS diag. useually people who do things 'cutting edge' show signs of AS. This is because they work alone with no-one telling them that their stuff is wrong, or wierd, or cant be done.

Aspys can be great in science, art and music, and useually dislike the public attention.

Jeff
 

greenlight

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My brother has asperger's syndrome, he's an adult. He's particularly focused on board games like scrabble because he can focus on the letter combinations. Usually he seems normal, but has several quirks, one being his particular aversion to touching family members in any way. Other people, no problem. It's frustrating to me because he jumps away if I happen to get too near. I always forget about his condition and treat him as normal, but then have to remember that he's not like everyone else and has his 'issues'.
 

mchlwise

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Interesting question.

I worked for an attorney a number of years ago who was representing a mother in a custody battle for a boy with Asperger's. As the attorney was reading up on the symptoms, and reading them out loud, he paused, looked up and said "that sounds like me. :ironic: " I don't know how much further his studies went into it, but I believe he pretty much diagnosed himself.

I might have a tendency that way too... or maybe a very mild case. It's hard to tell, because I might fit with some of the behaviors, but that doesn't mean I have a "condition" necessarily.

:shrug:
 

AvPD

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Some characteristics include not maintaing eye contact, poor social skills


I have those, but due to low self-esteem and social isolation due to being sensitive to criticism and growing up in a dysfunctional household.
 

jtr1962

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I have those, but due to low self-esteem and social isolation due to being sensitive to criticism and growing up in a dysfunctional household.
Same here. I'm 99% sure though that my late father had Aspergers. He would make lists of everything and otherwise focus on minute, but often irrelevant, details. And he always preferred to be "in his own world", even when we had company.
 

WildRice

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AvPD. there is a sort of list that is used to diag AS. the 'criteria' is 3 or more of 5 in this list and stuff like that. My 10yr old is a bit more pronounced. Family hugging is hard for him, he has a tendency to want to pull away. HOWEVER, when he is upset, he likes being squeezed or rolled up like a taco in a blanket. The is also common with autistics, i believe it is referred to as body compression. it causes them to be more relaxed.
Jeff
 

tvodrd

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Great, I get to add that to psoriasis and shingles (Mild) to my self-diagnosis over the last couple years! Always wondered why everybody says I'm anal when doing engineering, or a flashlight. :green:

Larry
 

mossyoak

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im going to **** off alot of people saying this but oh well.
i dont believe in ADD, ADHD,aspergers and all those other "disorders"
I was diagnoseed with ADHD when i was 10, up until then i thought i was normal, just hyper, but what kid isnt? i think all these things are just another thing to medicate. and people want to diagnose people, all people, with some disorder. and thats stupid. i cant think of one single person that doesnt have one "disorder" or another. i mean i supposedly have ADHD, my mom has restless leg syndrome, my dad ADD. we're all different. deal with it.
no one is "medically normal."
 

TigerhawkT3

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Mild, "high-functioning" case here. It's gotten better over the past several years.

EDIT: I tried the linked quiz, and got a 38.
 
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jtr1962

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I was diagnoseed with ADHD when i was 10, up until then i thought i was normal, just hyper, but what kid isnt? i think all these things are just another thing to medicate. and people want to diagnose people, all people, with some disorder. and thats stupid. i cant think of one single person that doesnt have one "disorder" or another. i mean i supposedly have ADHD, my mom has restless leg syndrome, my dad ADD. we're all different. deal with it.
I tend to agree. Unless something is severely debilitating to the point that you're a danger to yourself or someone else, or totally unable to do what you want, it's not a "disorder". In third grade my teacher felt something was wrong, that I wasn't "normal" (whatever that means), because I tended not to socialize with my classmates. I had to go to a shrink. First and last time I've ever dealt with a mental health professional, but at least this doctor was sharp enough to pick up something very important. I didn't bother much with my "peers" simply because I was somewhat smarter than most (all?) of them, and they plain old bored me. I preferred to associate with adults instead. It was end of story as far as the teacher's concerns went.

As I got older I did learn to make friends, especially in high school. I went to Bronx Science where many of the students were my equal or more. However, I never will be one to make small talk, or to spend a lot of time on my social life. I like occasional socializing, but that's all. Too much human contact makes me feel smothered, unable to think straight. Maybe I have a very mild case of aspergers, maybe I don't. I couldn't care less. Trying to pidgeon hole people into categories is what is very wrong about our society. We expect everyone to fit some ideal, and when they don't we make up a disorder for their personality type. If people don't enjoy doing what the "average" person does, we call it a disease. Aspergers, social anxiety disorder, ADHD, etc. are all silly labels. In the end we should be glad we have some personality types who tend to enjoy being alone, and perfecting their craft. These are the movers and shakers of society. If it were up to the average, "normal" person, we would all still be living in caves.
 

kitelights

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im going to **** off alot of people saying this but oh well.
i dont believe in ADD, ADHD,aspergers and all those other "disorders"
I was diagnoseed with ADHD when i was 10, up until then i thought i was normal, just hyper, but what kid isnt? i think all these things are just another thing to medicate. and people want to diagnose people, all people, with some disorder. and thats stupid. i cant think of one single person that doesnt have one "disorder" or another. i mean i supposedly have ADHD, my mom has restless leg syndrome, my dad ADD. we're all different. deal with it.
no one is "medically normal."
I'm going to cautiously agree with what I THINK that you're trying to say (to an extent).

I don't see how anyone (with half a brain) can not believe that these "disorders" exist.

I definitely believe that many of them are grossly over diagnosed (and under diagnosed) and that far too many use them as excuses for lack of personal responsibility and accountability. But there are others who are severe enough to have their lives turned upside by them and that shouldn't be discounted or ignored.

I'm of the personal belief that the majority of the members here have some type of "disorder" - we have an obsessive compulsion with flashlights!!!! Many have no clue (outside of jokes) that they probably really do have one or more "disorders," but as long as they're happy and productive having learned coping skills or how to turn their "flaws" into assets, who cares?

My bigger concern are those that have very poor social skills who bury themselves in online activities and never force themselves to interact face to face with others in order to develop those skills. They consequently lack the experience, pleasure and joy of "real" relationships.

They also can be very "difficult" online taking out their social inadequacies thru the mighty keyboard while hiding behind it. I believe that many things are said to others online that wouldn't dare be said face to face.

BTW, most of those with "disorders" are extremely intelligent.
 

WildRice

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Mossyoak, I can see where you are coming from. I too believe that many "conditions" are over exployted, ie ADD ADHD. and all diagnoises are lust labels for the different way people act or perceive things. Everyone IS different, when several people have a commonality, they can be grouped together. if you took all the people that like the color BLUE, you could make up a name, like BlueBurg syndrome, deem that it is NOT NORMAL to like the color blue, and find a drug that makes you colorblind so you cant dissern what blue is anymore.
All AS is, is a group of circumstances that some people exhibit. and unlike ADD and ADHD and all the other A D H S combinations. aspergers just has to be dealt with. If anything it groups these people together (be it good or bad), but it helps people like me, by learning how others with the same "conditions" as I have, how to possibably deal or live with.

There ARE medical conditions and mental conditions that are helped by the use of drugs. But I too feel that many drugs have been passed out like candy. I feel that many current problems esp with children is that many parents will push blame on to other things ie teachers, TV, internet, lead paint (well, mabyee that one is legit) rather that take the responsibility for their children themselves. Heck, teach your kids NOT to eat the paint from the walls and it wouldent really matter what they were made of.

If any of my children have a problem at school or on the bus, I dont get out my pitchfork and torch and look for the bus driver, or teacher. My first response is useually "what did YOU do???" . but thats me...
 

jtr1962

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My bigger concern are those that have very poor social skills who bury themselves in online activities and never force themselves to interact face to face with others in order to develop those skills. They consequently lack the experience, pleasure and joy of "real" relationships.
Or maybe they simply don't enjoy relationships with most people. One thing I resented as a child were teachers coercing me to join activities with other children which I just didn't enjoy. Even worse, I picked up on the fact that they considered something wrong with anyone who didn't want to do the things "normal" children do. The labels given to those who didn't fit the mold, such as "shy" or "weird", are merely another way to force conformity. Sometimes they made the situation even worse by trying to force a friendship between me and other loners in class. More often than not, these others were the class losers who nobody wanted to bother with, so any association with them, forced or otherwise, further hurt my chances of making other friends. Even today I resent it when an adult will act as if there's something wrong with me, or my life is somehow empty, because I don't spend all my free time on the phone or going out with friends like many so-called normal people do. Like I said, too much human contact just smothers me. I've had friendships end because the people insisted on calling me every single day, often at length, to talk about nothing. They just didn't get it that I didn't enjoy this kind of regular contact. Oddly enough, the friends I've had who were more like me tended not to do things like this.

What it comes down to is that everyone is different. I wish society was more accepting of these differences. The long term damage done by the stigma associated with the labels given me by my teachers has probably hindered any socializing I might have done more than helped. The minute a kid is made to feel different, their self-esteem falls right though the floor. They may have meant well, but we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I definitely believe that many of them are grossly over diagnosed (and under diagnosed) and that far too many use them as excuses for lack of personal responsibility and accountability. But there are others who are severe enough to have their lives turned upside by them and that shouldn't be discounted or ignored.
That's really the problem. There is undoubtedly a condition called ADHD. Maybe 1 out of every 10000 children has a severe enough case that they need drugs to cope. This is a far cry from the 2 or 3 or 5 kids in every class who are diagnosed with this disorder. The majority of ADHD cases are simply healthy, normal children whom the caretakers don't want to deal with. It's easier to give a label and drug them into a stupor. Additionally, I think diet and lack of exercise are both to blame. Foods high in sugar make kids hyper. Lack of exercise due to many parents opting their children out of gym results in pent-up youthful energy with no place to go. The situation is undoubtedly the same with many other "disorders".

The question which begs asking is why do we want everyone to be exactly alike? This is even more curious since this is supposedly a society wihch embraces diversity. We should all learn to live with, respect, and love our differences. Without them, we would just be machines off an assembly line.
 
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